{"id":49166,"date":"2018-06-13T15:46:43","date_gmt":"2018-06-13T19:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=49166"},"modified":"2025-09-30T11:35:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T15:35:07","slug":"carleton-neuroscience-students-showcase-power-of-human-brain","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/carleton-neuroscience-students-showcase-power-of-human-brain\/","title":{"rendered":"Carleton Neuroscience Students Showcase Power of Human Brain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Carleton Neuroscience Students Showcase Power of Human Brain\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Natalie Prowse gently attaches three electromyography (EMG) electrodes to the arm of Eliza Ali, both Neuroscience PhD students at Carleton University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tiny red and black cables run from Ali\u2019s arm into a pocket-sized battery powered box where another set of cables branch out, sticking to Prowse\u2019s arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the clutch of her fist and the bend of her elbow, Prowse sends minute electrical currents from her brain down the nerves of her arm, through the wires and into Ali\u2019s arm muscles, causing her arm to twitch and flex uncontrollably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt feels so weird,\u201d Ali says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe kids love doing this to their parents,\u201d Natalie responds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demonstration was part of a showcase of the human brain, presented by Carleton\u2019s graduate and undergraduate programs in Neuroscience<\/a>, at an event called Brain Bonanza held at the Canadian Museum of Nature on June 9 and 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event, presented in partnership with the Ontario Brain Institute<\/a>, is geared to informing visitors about a wide-array of topics related to the human brain, from sensation and memory to illness and injury.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Neuroscience<\/figure>\n\n\n
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Brain: The Inside Story<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The event was part of the museum\u2019s Brain: The Inside Story exhibit, which runs until September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carleton students, in collaboration with Ottawa\u2019s chapter of the Society for Neuroscience<\/a>, took the opportunity to showcase the raw power and unique abilities of the brain for all to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is get people interested in neuroscience research and solving the mysteries of the brain,\u201d says Prowse, who organized Carleton\u2019s activities at the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team held a variety of different demonstrations, including a robotic claw that could be operated through muscle movement and a sensory taste test using jelly beans, which turned out to be quite the hit for the younger crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Neuroscience<\/figure>\n\n\n
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Giving Future Neuroscientists a Kick-Start<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

One of the main goals was to give the next generation of scientists a kick-start on their career paths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs youth ourselves, we can inspire those who are [our age] or younger to know more about their brain and open doors to talk about neurodegenerative diseases and mental health,\u201d Ali says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is especially important to involve youth because they are the future and their ideas will change the face of research, medicine, mental health services and much, much more,\u201d says Rebecca Prowse, a fourth-year Neuroscience and Mental Health student with a minor in Psychology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it is really important to make science accessible and exciting to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other groups at the event included SickKids<\/a>, the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI)<\/a>, Parkinson\u2019s Canada<\/a> and the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario (MDAO)<\/a>, to name a few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGetting young people interested in science is an awesome thing,\u201d Natalie Prowse says. \u201cIf you find something that makes your brain go pop and makes you passionate about solving that problem, go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Natalie Prowse gently attaches three electromyography (EMG) electrodes to the arm of Eliza Ali, both Neuroscience PhD students at Carleton University. The tiny red and black cables run from Ali\u2019s arm into a pocket-sized battery powered box where another set of cables branch out, sticking to Prowse\u2019s arm. With the clutch of her fist and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":49172,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[25],"cu_story_tag":[1919],"class_list":["post-49166","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-student-experience","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-science"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/49166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/49166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98127,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/49166\/revisions\/98127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=49166"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=49166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}